An ink jet print head cartridge has a number of nozzles on a substrate that are used to expel drops of ink onto a printing surface. As the print head cartridge scans across a printing surface, the nozzles are fired at precisely determined times to expel drops of ink and produce an image on the printing surface. In order to decrease the time required to print an image or increase the resolution of a printed image, larger and larger numbers of nozzles are being placed on modern ink jet print head cartridges. As the number of nozzles on the print head increases, the number of input data lines required to address and fire the nozzles also increases. Unfortunately as the number of input lines to the ink jet print head increases, so does the cost and complexity of manufacturing the print head. In addition, the increasing complexity of the connections between the printer electronics and the ink jet print head leads to a decrease in the manufacturing yield when producing the print head. Thus, there is a need to reduce the number of data lines between an ink jet print head cartridge and the printer electronics of an ink jet printer.